Paul Peters, aged 33, of Holburne Road, Kidbrooke, was acquitted of racially aggravated criminal damage and a separate charge of criminal damage at Bexley Magistrates’ Court today.Well, well, well....
It was alleged Mr Peters deliberately dropped a bottle causing it to smash on the plaque in Well Hall Road where Mr Lawrence, 18, was stabbed to death in April 1993.Yes, there's CCTV monitoring the spot where St Stephen fell. You really couldn't make it up...
Mr Peters was caught on CCTV dropping the bottle at around 6.20pm on October 1.
Magistrates were told that the next day [October 2] street cleaners were called to clear up broken glass and liquid which covered the plaque, pavement and road, costing £20 to clear up.Wow! If only all street cleaners were so fast, and so diligent!
The excuse (for littering) is not a new one:
On the day in question Mr Peters said he was “out of his face” after drinking up to 10 cans of Stella at a friend’s house in Orpington, and did not remember what happened on his journey home, nor did he remember dropping the bottle.A simple case of littering. So, why charge him with something no-one could prove, what was in his mind when he did it?
He was returning home with his girlfriend and three children, aged two, four and six, by bus and had to get off the bus early as he was feeling ill, the court heard.
Mr Peters denied both charges and said he did not intend to drop the bottle on the plaque and that he did not even know the plaque was there.Yes, it seems the modern-day absurdity has reached new heights indeed. Drop that bottle a few feet to the left or right, and he'd be a simple litterbug. And no-one would have even bothered looking at the CCTV...
He also said he had “no problem with black people.”
He added: “It’s not nice being in the papers. I do not think I deserve that from dropping a bottle. I feel sick to the stomach.”Quite!
On returning the not guilty verdicts, chief magistrate Sue Adams said: “We accept his actions were careless. We are not of the view he genuinely appreciated the risks of his actions.”What 'risk' would that be?
The risk of a show trial to salve consciences, perhaps?
So thankful that CPS never risk criminally aggravating racial damage.
ReplyDeleteThe met , god bless it, was put in an awkward position there. So was the cps.
ReplyDeleteThank god the court got it right.
Yet again drunkenness is a mitigating factor.
Yes, there's CCTV monitoring the spot where St Stephen fell. You really couldn't make it up...
ReplyDeleteThere's probably CCTV covering the spot where he opened a newspaper once, and the stretch of road where he walked along with his hands in his pockets for a bit, and the parking space where an ice cream van stops in the summer that he used to buy a cornet from now and then, and... Not because of anything to do with Stephen Lawrence, of course. It's just that modern Britain has more CCTV installed than in Erich Honecker's wank fantasies.
Yes, there's CCTV monitoring the spot where St Stephen fell. You really couldn't make it up...
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing that there is never CCTV coverage of war memorials when scum rip the bronze off them for scrap...
Unfortunately the old bill and the local CPS have no say in all matters related to that scared spot of ground in the Well Hall Road. A good result from the Beak in this case. After 10 cans of Stella he did well to negotiate public transport from orpin'ton...up to a point. And as for having a problem with black people - he wouldn't have had much problem with anything after those 10 cans!
ReplyDeleteXX Wow! If only all street cleaners were so fast, and so diligent!XX
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to add "and so well paid".
What a load of complete arse ..
ReplyDeleteIts a bloody memorial plaque, that's all ..
This incident, which has been blown out of all proportion, has no more relevance than if a pigeon crapped on a "Blue" plaque mounted on a house somewhere ..
In fact, many of those commemorated by "Blue" plaques achieved far more in life & for this country than Stephen Lawrence would ever have done ..
"In fact, many of those commemorated by "Blue" plaques achieved far more in life & for this country than Stephen Lawrence would ever have done"
ReplyDeleteOh I don't know. It's not given to many who by their death overturned a 1,000-year legal defence (against double jeopardy) and turned a police force which was once - genuinely - the envy of the world from impartial enforcers of the law into fifth rate social workers.
XX turned a police force which was once - genuinely - the envy of the world from impartial enforcers of the law into fifth rate social workers. XX
ReplyDeleteThat was the straw that broke the camels back. The process began long before that after the riots in Toxteth and Brixton in the early 80s. Which lead to the ending of the so called "sus" law. (Suspiscion of about to comit an arrestable offence - stop and search), among other things. Such as the ban on using blue lights and twin tones in nigger areas.
Umbongo - -let's not forget that the continuing failed trials of the alleged perps have kept Imran Khan and Michael Mansfield up there in the Legal Aid Rich List. What next for Norris and Dobson when their current trial finds them NOT GUILTY again?
ReplyDeleteBreaking news courtesy of Guardian:
ReplyDeleteFour police chiefs, including the national lead on ethics in policing, have been placed under criminal investigation over allegations of misconduct, the Guardian has learned.
Formal notices of investigation were served on the senior officers, who are in positions of command at three different forces, earlier this month.
....Never a day goes by...
"The met , god bless it, was put in an awkward position there. So was the cps."
ReplyDeleteNot if they'd not made such a fuss over it, no. That just feeds the racemongers, and makes them more work in the futu...
Ah. Hang on...
"...Not because of anything to do with Stephen Lawrence, of course. It's just that modern Britain has more CCTV installed than in Erich Honecker's wank fantasies."
Heh! Good point.
"It is amazing that there is never CCTV coverage of war memorials when scum rip the bronze off them for scrap..."
Indeed...
"After 10 cans of Stella he did well to negotiate public transport from orpin'ton..."
I'd need ten pints of REAL booze before I attempted that journey!
"You forgot to add "and so well paid"."
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit steep, wasn't it?
"In fact, many of those commemorated by "Blue" plaques achieved far more in life & for this country than Stephen Lawrence would ever have done .."
Only 'many'..?
"...and turned a police force which was once - genuinely - the envy of the world from impartial enforcers of the law into fifth rate social workers."
Good point. Though as FT points out, the signs weren't good even before it.
" What next for Norris and Dobson when their current trial finds them NOT GUILTY again?"
Not 'if'..? There's a hell of a lot of pressure on that jury.
"Four police chiefs, including the national lead on ethics in policing..."
Now this is going to be....interesting! Must browse Gadget's. ;)